Method and system for allowing incoming emergency communications on a disabled device

ABSTRACT

A system and method to allow a disabled device to receive an incoming communication after the termination of an emergency communication session with a service provider. A disabled device is a device having a portion of its service plan that allows the device to send or receive communications either temporarily or permanently disabled. In some embodiments, the system allows the disabled device to receive all incoming communications during a defined period of time after the emergency communication session. In some embodiments, the system allows the disabled device to receive all incoming communications from numbers or URIs contained in a repository of allowed numbers. In some embodiments, the system allows the disabled device to receive all incoming communications if the service provider initiating the communication enters an authenticated routing key or passcode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/646,575, filed Oct. 5, 2012, which is a divisional application ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/491,183 filed Jun. 24, 2009, whichis a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/265,707, filed Nov. 5, 2008, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/985,633, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FORALLOWING INCOMING EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ON A DISABLED DEVICE,” filedNov. 5, 2007.

BACKGROUND

Telephone service providers offer their customers a variety of serviceplans. A customer may select a plan that is billed at a flat rate everymonth with additional charges added on the following month for servicesthe customer uses beyond their standard plan (e.g. text messages, usedminutes beyond the allocated amount in the plan, downloads, or anynumber of other extra cost services). In these example payment plans,service may be discontinued for a variety of reasons such as a failureto pay the bill, violating the terms of service (TOS), and/or a reportthat the phone has been lost or stolen. Additionally, some telephoneservice providers offer pre-paid phone plans as an alternative to themonthly billed (or other) plan. In a pre-paid plan, a customer maypurchase a certain number of minutes, or units of time, before usingthose minutes. The network may keep track of minute-, or unit-, usage ata real-time rate, and prompt the customer to purchase more minutes, orunits, when the customer has run out or is near running out of usablecalling minutes, or units. For example, a unit of time may correspond toa specific amount of minutes depending upon the intended callinglocation (e.g., more units are required for international telephonecalls as compared to the units required for a domestic call for a sameamount of minutes). Service may be discontinued when the customer hasexhausted all of the pre-paid minutes or units of time, or, for example,service to specific locations may be unavailable due to insufficient ora low number of pre-paid minutes or units.

Even though a service provider may disable general service to atelecommunications device (e.g., wired phone, cordless phone, mobiletelephone, personal digital assistant, smart phone, laptop computer,etc.), the service provider may still allow a user of the disableddevice to place an emergency call to pre-approved telephone numbers orURIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers). For example, the service providermay allow an emergency call to be made to emergency services (e.g.,911), to the service provider's customer service number, or to otherlocalized numbers or URIs. An allowed call to emergency services mayconnect the device to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). Theservice provider knows which PSAP to route a call to when a user dialsfor emergency assistance. In a given situation, a caller of 911 or otheremergency hotline is routed to a specific emergency call center,commonly referred to as a primary PSAP. The primary PSAP acts to obtainand verify the whereabouts of the caller, determine the nature of theemergency, notify an appropriate response team(s), and/or contact asecondary or other PSAP. In some situations, the primary PSAP may not beresponsible for directly dispatching an appropriate response team, andwill need to identify and/or contact/conference in a secondary PSAP,e.g., a police dispatcher or a fire team dispatcher.

In some circumstances, a PSAP may need to call back the disabled devicethat placed the emergency services call. For example, a call between theparties may have been terminated before all desired information had beenexchanged. Currently, however, a PSAP is not able to place a call to adisabled device. The inability of the PSAP to contact a disabled deviceis a significant shortcoming that can impact the ability to offeremergency services in a timely fashion to the device user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a signaling diagram that depicts allowing callbacks to adisabled device based on an elapsed time.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating allowing callbacks from a serviceprovider based on a stored list of service provider numbers.

FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram that depicts allowing callbacks to adisabled device based on an associated routing key.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are signaling diagrams that depicts allowing callbacks toa disabled device based on an issued passcode.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating allowing callbacks from a serviceprovider that occur within a threshold time after an emergency call.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating allowing callbacks from a serviceprovider based on an issued passcode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A system and method to allow a disabled device to receive an incomingcommunication after the termination of an emergency communicationsession with a service provider is disclosed. A “device” is anytelecommunications device (e.g., a wired, wireless, or cordless phone;VoIP device; Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) or UMA-enabled device;portable or handheld computer; smartphone; media player; or the like)having a service plan with a telecommunications service provider thatallows the device to communicate with others via voice, video, text,etc. A “disabled” device is a device having the portion of its serviceplan that allows the device to send or receive communications eithertemporarily or permanently disabled. For example, a device user may haveexhausted a usage allowance (e.g., used all of his/her prepaid minutes)or may have had access suspended by an authorized user (e.g., by aparent or guardian that allocates minutes in a shared family plan),thereby resulting in a “service lock” for the device. Various methodsare disclosed herein to allow a disabled device to receivecommunications after an emergency communication session, even thoughsuch communications would normally be prevented as a result of theservice lock.

In some embodiments, the system activates a timer or othertime-measurement technique upon detecting that a device user initiatedan emergency communication session (e.g., a voice, video, multimedia,Short Message Service (SMS), and/or Instant Messaging (IM) session),such as by dialing 911. The timer may be activated for a defined periodof time (e.g., 10 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.). The system allows thedevice to receive all incoming communications (e.g., any incoming voice,video, multimedia, Short Message Service (SMS), and/or Instant Messaging(IM) session) during the defined period of time. For example, allincoming calls during the defined time period may be rated as freeand/or the service lock may be overridden. Alternatively, in someembodiments, the timer may be activated in response to the emergencycommunication session having been disconnected or dropped.

In some embodiments, the system may maintain a repository of emergencytelephone numbers or URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers), and allincoming communications from numbers or URIs contained in the repositorythat occur after a device user has initiated an emergency communicationsession may be allowed. The repository of telephone numbers or URIs mayinclude all known service providers such as Public Safety AnsweringPoints (PSAPs), telecommunications service providers' customer servicenumbers, or other desired telephone numbers or URIs. The incomingcommunication may be allowed by the system by rating the communicationas free and/or overriding the service lock.

In some embodiments, in response to a device user's request to initiatean emergency communication with a service provider (e.g., by dialing911), the communication request may be routed to the service providerand a routing key or passcode may additionally be forwarded to theservice provider (e.g., to a PSAP, a PSAP operator, a system repositorywhich may be accessible by a PSAP, and/or the specific PSAP to whom thecall was routed). Subsequently, the system prompts anyone seeking tocontact the disabled device for the routing key or passcode. The systemallows communication with the disabled device if the routing key orpasscode entered by the caller matches the routing key or passcodeinitially generated by the system. The routing key or passcode may bekept secret from the service provider operator or made available to theservice provider operator. The system may allow the communication by,for example, rating the communication as free and/or overriding theservice lock.

The emergency communication session established with a device may be,for example, a voice, video, multimedia, text, Short Message Service(SMS), and/or IM session. For purposes of clarity, the discussion hereinoften focuses on establishing a 911 call with a PSAP. The disclosedtechnology is not limited to use for 911 calls to PSAPs, however, andmay be applied to any communication session with one or more serviceproviders.

Various embodiments of the invention will now be described. Thefollowing description provides specific details for a thoroughunderstanding and an enabling description of these embodiments. Oneskilled in the art will understand, however, that the invention may bepracticed without many of these details. Additionally, some well-knownstructures or functions may not be shown or described in detail, so asto avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description of the variousembodiments. The terminology used in the description presented below isintended to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, eventhough it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description ofcertain specific embodiments of the invention.

As previously described, a device may be placed in a temporary orpermanent disabled state for a variety of reasons, such as theexhaustion of a prepaid service plan that covers the device or because auser managing service to the device has elected to restrict access to aservice. Even though a device may be in a disabled state, manytelecommunications service providers will allow an outgoing emergencycommunication to be placed from the device, because the service provideris able to identify commonly assigned emergency numbers (such as thesequence 9-1-1) that reflect a user's need to place an emergencycommunication. Under such circumstances, even if the device is disabledthe service provider may allow the communication to proceed. Incontrast, it was previously not possible for a PSAP to initiate orotherwise reestablish a communication session with a disabled device,such as may be required if a communication session with the device isterminated. Accordingly, there exists a need to allow PSAPs or otheremergency service providers to establish communication with a disableddevice.

FIG. 1 is a signaling diagram illustrating a series of messages that aresent between a disabled device 105, a switch (e.g., a Mobile SwitchingCenter or MSC) 110, a routing engine (e.g., an SCP) 115, a rating engine(e.g., an SDP) 120, an emergency service routing engine (e.g., a GMLC)125 and a service provider 130, in order to establish an emergencycommunication between the disabled device 105 and the service provider130, and to reestablish the communication between the same or differentservice provider and the disabled device 105 if the emergencycommunication between the disabled device and the service provider isinterrupted or otherwise terminated. The service provider 130 may be aPublic Safety Answering Point (PSAP), such as a 911 call center, acustomer service center, or any other service provider or third partyservice (e.g., police, fire) that may need to communicate with a deviceuser during an emergency situation. The device 105 may, for example, bea wired, wireless, or cordless phone, VoIP phone, Unlicensed MobileAccess or UMA enabled device, portable computer, handheld computer,smartphone, media player, or the like. The device 105 has been disabledsuch that it is not authorized to initiate and/or receive communicationswith other devices, other than to establish communication with certainservice providers.

A variety of circumstances may cause a device to be placed in a disabledstate where it is prevented from initiating or receiving communication(e.g., from placing or receiving calls). The device 105 may, forexample, be a real-time rated device that operates on a real-time ratedplan (e.g. a pre-paid plan or family allowance plan). In the example ofa pre-paid plan, the device user may have purchased a quantity ofminutes or units and used up those minutes or units. Until the userpurchases more minutes or units, the device may be disabled except forestablishing communication with certain service providers. As anotherexample, the real-time rated plan may be a family allowance plan (e.g.,such as the Family Allowances^(SM) plan by T-Mobile). In a familyallowance plan, an account supervisor (e.g., a parent or guardian) maypurchase an allotment of minutes and/or usage units (e.g., downloads,SMSs, etc.) each time period to be shared among various devicesparticipating in the supervisor's family allowance plan. The supervisorallocates a defined amount of usage (e.g., minutes, text messages,multimedia downloads) to a device. Upon reaching the allocated amount ofusage, the device is disabled. Alternatively and/or additionally, thesupervisor may selectively limit use of the device by causing the deviceto be automatically disabled at various times of the day and/orparticular days of the week and/or defined locations (e.g., near aschool). Further details of a family allowance plan may be found in U.S.application Ser. No. 12/246,439, filed Oct. 6, 2008 and entitled “SYSTEMTHAT ENABLES A USER TO ADJUST TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES ALLOCATED TOA GROUP,” which is hereby incorporated by this reference in itsentirety. While the device is disabled, it may still be operable toinitiate communication with pre-approved numbers. Such pre-approvednumbers may be numbers selected and/or approved by the accountsupervisor, and typically, for example, include 9-1-1.

Various network elements enable communication between the device and theservice provider as described herein. The switch 110 is a MobileSwitching Center (MSC) or any other component or platform that isoperable to detect an emergency communication request initiated by thedevice or by the service provider. The routing engine 115 is, forexample, an SCP (Service Control Point) or similar component or platformused to control service to the device. The SCP is a standard componentof an Intelligent Network (IN) telephone system, which is used tocontrol real-time rated phone services. The rating engine 120 is an SDP(Service Data Point) or any other component or platform that determineswhether an emergency communication session may be reestablished betweena service provider and the device 105. The SDP may be a node in theservice network (e.g., a GSM network) responsible for determining deviceuser information such as, for example, rate plans, rate balance, deviceidentification (e.g., MSISDN), and time an emergency communicationsession was established and/or disconnected. Further details of therouting engine 115 and the rating engine 120 are described below.

As shown in FIG. 1, to initiate an emergency communication session, at atime 150 a disabled device 105 sends a communication request to theswitch 110. Such a request may be, for example, a 911 call. Even thoughthe device is disabled, such a communication is allowed by the systemsince it is directed to an emergency number. At a time 153, the switch110 requests a routing instruction, e.g., a Pseudo Automatic NumberIdentification or pANI (such as an Emergency Services Routing Key (ESRK)or an Emergency Services Query Key (ESQK)) from the emergency servicerouting engine 125. The emergency service routing engine 125 providesthe routing information to the switch 110 to route the communicationrequest. In some embodiments, the emergency service routing engine 125is a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) which may interface with oneor more other system nodes. At a time 156, the emergency service routingengine 125 forwards the routing instruction(s) to the switch 110. Therouting instructions are used to identify the service provider 130(e.g., a PSAP) where the emergency communication request is to berouted. At a time 160, the switch 110 routes the communication requestto the service provider 130 identified via the routing instructions. Acommunications session is then established between the device 105 andthe service provider 130.

At a time 163, the emergency service routing engine 125 notifies therating engine that the emergency communication session has beenestablished between the device 105 and the service provider 130. In someembodiments, the emergency service rating engine 125 provides the ratingengine 120 with a time the emergency communication session wasestablished and with a device identifier (e.g. telephone number, MobileSubscriber Integrated Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN), anInternational Mobile Subscriber Identifier or IMSI, a MAC address, an IPaddress, etc.). The rating engine 120 may then initiate a timer based onthe time the emergency communication session was established andassociate the timer with the device identifier. The timer and the deviceidentifier may, for example, be stored in the rating engine 120, or in adatabase and/or directory accessible to the rating engine 120. As willbe described below, the timer is utilized by the system to determinewhether a defined threshold of time (e.g., 10 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.)has elapsed since an emergency communication session was establishedbetween a device and the service provider.

At a time 166, the established communication session is prematurelydisconnected or dropped. For example, if the communication is a 911call, the 911 call may disconnect. The device user may prematurelyterminate the communication session, the service provider mayprematurely terminate the communication session, or technicaldifficulties may terminate the communication session. In someembodiments, a notification of the premature termination of thecommunication session may be sent from the emergency service routingengine 125 to the rating engine 120. In response to receiving thenotification of premature termination, the rating engine may restart thetimer associated with the device in order to allow the system to measurewhether a defined threshold of time (e.g., 10 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.)has lapsed since the emergency communication session was terminated.

Subsequent to the termination of the communication session, the sameservice provider (e.g., the PSAP) or a different service provider maydesire to reestablish the communication session with the device user. Inorder to do so, at a time 170 the service provider 130 sends a requestto reestablish the communication session to the switch 110. The requestmay include the device identifier (e.g., MSISDN, MSI, MAC address, IPaddress, etc.).

At a time 173, the switch 110 sends a “rating request” or a request toauthorize establishment of the communication session to the routingengine 115. At a time 176, the routing engine 115 forwards the requestto reestablish a communication session to the rating engine 120. Therequest may, for example, include the device identifier. The ratingengine accesses the database and/or directory storing the timer andassociated device identifier. The rating engine 120 identifies the timerassociated with the device identifier and determines whether the definedthreshold of time has lapsed. As mentioned above, in some embodimentsthe timer indicates the amount of time since the emergency communicationsession was initially established, while in other embodiments the timerindicates the amount of time since the emergency communication sessionwas terminated. If the defined threshold period has not lapsed, therating engine 120 authorizes the request to reestablish thecommunication session by forwarding a permission message to the switch110 at a time 180. Otherwise, the communication session is denied by therating engine.

In some embodiments, the device 105 may belong to a family allowanceplan (e.g., Family Allowances^(SM)). In such an event, the rating engine120 may deduct minutes and/or usage units from the overall service planfor the duration of the communication sessions, if minutes and/or usageunits remain in the plan. Alternatively, if the resources allocatedunder the plan are exhausted or if the device 105 does not belong to afamily allowance plan, the rating engine 120 may track the amount ofminutes and/or usage units consumed during the reestablishedcommunication session, and impose a subsequent fee on the device user.In other embodiments, the communication session may be free of charge(similar to outgoing 911 calls, customer service calls, etc.).

The routing engine 115 may also communicate with peripherals, e.g., toplay voice messages, or prompt for information, such as pre-paid minutepurchases using account codes.

At a time 183, the emergency communication session is reestablishedbetween the device 105 and the same or a different service provider 130.In the event that there is another termination in the communicationsession, the communication session may be reestablished by repeating thesignaling occurring at times 170-183. The rating engine may re-set thetimer associated with the device at the time the connection isreestablished, or at the time that the connection is lost. In thismanner, communication sessions may be enabled over an extended periodhaving multiple disconnections.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an alternate method 200 forestablishing a communication session between a disabled device 105 and aservice provider 130 (e.g., a PSAP such as a 9-1-1 call center orcustomer service for a telecommunications service provider). Thealternate method depends on a list of “authorized” service providersthat are maintained by the system in a database that is accessed by therating engine 120. At a decision block 270, the service provider 130requests the establishment of a communication session with the device105. The request may be in response to a prematurely terminatedcommunication session (e.g., a disconnected communication session ordropped call) or, alternatively, may be a first request forcommunication with the device 105.

At a block 273, in response to the communication request, the switch(e.g., a Mobile Switching Center or MSC) 110 requests a rating and/orauthorization from the routing engine 115. At a block 276, the routingengine 115 sends the rating request and/or authorization request to therating engine 120. The rating engine determines whether the requestingservice provider is contained in a database or repository of authorizedservice providers that are identified by one or more identifiers (e.g.telephone numbers, numeric and/or alphanumeric addresses identifiers,uniform resource identifiers (URI), or other identificationinformation). It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatthe identity of the service providers may be stored in any number ofavailable ways.

At a decision block 278, the rating engine 120 compares the identifierof the requesting service provider 130 with the list of authorizedservice providers that are located in the repository. Using one or morecomparison methods known in the art, the rating engine 120 determineswhether the request service provider is found in the repository. At ablock 281, if the requesting service provider 130 does not match one ofthe identifiers in the repository, the service provider 130 may receivea “subscriber unavailable” message. The attempt to connect with thedisabled device may be repeated until the service provider 130discontinues its communication request (e.g., the PSAP operator hangsup), or the system terminates the service provider's 130 communicationrequest (e.g., the system hangs up on the PSAP operator) after a numberof failed communication attempts.

Alternatively, if the requesting service provider identifier is found inthe repository of authorized service providers then at a block 280 therating engine 120 rates the requested communication session and grantspermission to establish the communication session. At a block 283, thecommunication session between the service provider 130 and the device105 is established. The method 200 passes control back to decision block270, and waits for another communication request from the serviceprovider 130.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the device 105 may belong to afamily allowance plan (e.g., Family Allowances^(SM)). In such an event,the rating engine 120 may deduct minutes and/or usage units from theoverall service plan for the duration of the communication sessions, ifminutes and/or usage units remain in the plan. Alternatively, if theservice plan resources are exhausted or if the device 105 does notbelong to a family allowance plan, the rating engine 120 may track theamount of minutes and/or usage units consumed during the reestablishedcommunication session, and impose a subsequent fee on the device user.In other embodiments, the communication session may be free of charge(similar to outgoing 911 calls, customer service calls, etc.).

It should be appreciated that the method described in FIG. 2 could beused in conjunction with the method described in FIG. 1. For example, inone embodiment, a communication session (e.g., call) may be rated as“free” if the identifier of the service provider 130 (e.g., an incomingtelephone number) is found in the list of authorized service providersas disclosed in FIG. 2, and/or if there is an active timer and the timerindicates that the defined threshold period has not lapsed, as disclosedin FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram illustrating a series of messages that aresent between the disabled device 105, the switch 110, the routing engine115, the rating engine 120, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system323, the emergency service routing engine 125 (e.g., a Gateway MobileLocation Center or GMLC) and the service provider 130, in order toestablish an emergency communication between the disabled device 105 andthe service provider 130, and to reestablish communication between thesame or a different service provider and the disabled device 105 if theemergency communication between the disabled device and the serviceprovider is interrupted or otherwise terminated. The method depicted inFIG. 3 uses a routing key (e.g., a pANI) to establish and reestablishcommunication between a service provider and the disabled device.

At a time 350, the disabled device 105 user attempts to initiate anemergency communication session with the service provider 130, such asby placing a call to 911. At a time 353, the switch 110 requests arouting key unique to the communication session, such as a pANI (e.g.,an ESRK or ESQK), from the emergency service routing engine 125. At atime 356, the emergency service routing engine 125 sends to the switch110 the routing key which contains sufficient information to route thedisabled device to the appropriate service provider 130. At a time 360,the switch 110 routes the communication request to the service provider130. The communication session is thereby established between thedisabled device and the service provider. Additional information such asa device identifier (e.g., MSISDN, IMSI, MAC address, IP address) andany location information known about the device 105, may also beprovided to the service provider. The pANI is a temporary routing keyassociated with the specific device it was generated for, and may or maynot be known by the device user. At a time 363, the emergency servicerouting engine 125 provides the rating engine 120 with the routing key,an identifier (i.e., the MSISDN, MSI, MAC address, IP address, ortelephone number) associated with device, and/or the time ofestablishment of the communication session. The routing key, deviceidentifier, and/or time the communication session was established arestored by the rating engine. In some embodiments, additional numbers ofcomparable routing engines and routing identifiers may also be providedto the rating engine.

At a time 366, the established communication session between thedisabled device and the service provider is prematurely disconnected ordropped due to any number of reasons. For example, the device user mayprematurely terminate the communication session, the service providermay prematurely terminate the communication session, or technicaldifficulties may terminate the communication session. At a time 368, thesame or a different service provider attempts to reestablish thecommunication session with the device 105 user. The service provider 130therefore sends a request for reestablishing the communication sessionto the switch 110.

At a time 370, the switch 110 sends a rating request or a request toauthorize reestablishment of the communication session to the routingengine 115. The authorization request may, for example, include thedevice 105 identifier. At a time 372, the routing engine 115 forwardsthe rating request to the rating engine 120. Although the rating engine120 determines that the device 105 is currently disabled, the ratingengine allows the communication session to be reestablished since thesession relates to a previous emergency communication session.

At a time 373, the rating engine 120 informs the routing engine 115 thata routing key, e.g., pANI, authentication request should be made. Therouting engine 115 is configured to interface with the Interactive VoiceResponse (IVR) system 323 or other peripheral components. At a time 374,the routing engine 115 forwards the authentication request to the IVR323 and/or to the other peripheral components.

The IVR is responsible for accepting and prompting an operator for inputthat is used to authenticate the service provider and therefore allowthe session to be reestablished. Operator input to authenticate therequest may come from touch-tone keys and interpreted withtone-recognition software, or may come from spoken words and interpretedwith voice-recognition software. At a time 375, the IVR 323 prompts anoperator at the service provider 130 to enter the routing key, e.g., thepANI, that was sent to the service provider when the device initiatedthe emergency communication session with the service provider. The IVRprompt may be a single node in a menu tree, or may be part of a largermenu tree (e.g. “press 1 for English . . . press 3 if you are a PSAP . .. please enter the key”). The operator at the service provider 130 mayenter the routing key, recite the routing key, or enter the routing keyin any other variety of ways. For example, the operator may be providedwith a software user interface that allows the operator to issue anauthentication command. In such an interface, the operator may or maynot be made aware of the actual alpha- or alpha-numeric construction ofthe routing key.

At a time 376, the operator at the service provider 130 enters therouting key (e.g., the pANI). At a time 377, the IVR 323 forwards theentered routing key response to the routing engine 115. The routingengine 115 compares the entered routing key with the routing keyassociated with the particular device 105. At a time 380, if there is amatch between the entered routing key and the stored routing key, therouting engine 115 grants permission to reestablish the communicationsession via the switch 110. At a time 383, the communication session istherefore reestablished between the disabled device and the serviceprovider. If the entered routing key does not match the stored routingkey, the system may provide a failure notice, may provide a certainnumber of reentry tries, or may perform any number of other actionsbefore the system finally disallows the attempted connection.

The routing key may be any number and combination of digits (e.g.,numeric, alphanumeric, or any combination thereof) to allow a serviceprovider (e.g., PSAP) to connect to a user device (e.g., telephonedevice such as a wireless landline or mobile phone). The routing key maybe automatically, dynamically, or manually generated.

The embodiments described in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 may be used in combinationwith and without each other. For example, a communication session may beallowed (or “rated as free”) if the service provider identifier is foundin the repository of known service providers and the service provideroperator is able to authenticate the communication using the routingkey. In another example, a communication session may be allowed (or“rated as free”) if the timer indicates that the defined thresholdperiod has not lapsed, the service provider identifier is contained inthe repository of known service providers, and the service provideroperator is able to authenticate the communication using the routingkey. Different combinations of the disclosed embodiments could be usedto create a permissive callback system to balance the competing concernsof user safety and system abuse.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are signaling diagrams illustrating a series of messagesthat are sent between the disabled device 105, the switch 110, therouting engine 115, the rating engine 120, the emergency service routingengine 125, and the service provider 130, in order to establish anemergency communication between the disabled device 105 and the serviceprovider 130, and to reestablish communication between the same or adifferent service provider and the disabled device 105 if the emergencycommunication between the disabled device and the service provider isinterrupted or otherwise terminated. The methods depicted in FIGS. 4 and5 use passcodes to establish and reestablish communication between theservice provider and the disabled device.

With respect to FIG. 4, at a time 450, the disabled device 105 userattempts to initiate an emergency communication session with the serviceprovider 130, such as by placing a call to 911. At a time 453, theswitch 110 requests a routing key unique to the communication session,such as a pANI (e.g., an ESRK or ESQK), from the emergency servicerouting engine 125. At a time 456, the emergency service routing engine125 provides the switch 110 with the routing instructions. At times457-458, the switch 110 requests, via the routing engine 115, that therating engine 120 generate a passcode to associate with the device 105.At a time 459, a temporary passcode is issued to the switch 110 by therating engine. The passcode may be any unique code, such as a string ofalphanumeric characters. At a time 460, the switch routes thecommunication request to the service provider 130 along with thepasscode, thereby establishing an emergency communication sessionbetween the device 105 and the service provider 130.

At a time 466, the emergency communication session is disconnected and,at a time 470, the same or a different service provider attempts toreestablish the communication session with the device 105. At a time473, the switch 110 sends a “rating request” or a request to authorizereestablishment of the communication session to the routing engine 115and, at a time 476, the routing engine 115 forwards the request to therating engine 120. The rating engine 120 receives the rating request,and, at a time 477, prompts the service provider 130 for the passcode.At a time 478, the service provider enters and transmits the passcode tothe rating engine. The passcode may be automatically entered by serviceprovider systems, or manually entered by a system provider operator(e.g., using an IVR system as described with respect to FIG. 3).Depending on the systems provided at the service provider, the operatormay or may not be made aware of the alpha- or alphanumeric constructionof the passcode. At a time 480, the rating engine compares the enteredpasscode with the previously-stored passcode. If the entered passcodematches the stored passcode, the rating engine 120 grants permission toreestablish the communication session (e.g., to connect the call such asby rating the call as free). At a time 483, the service provider 130reestablishes the disconnected communication session with the device105.

Turning to FIG. 5, the messages sent at times 550-570 are substantiallysimilar to the messages sent at times 450-470 in FIG. 4. In the methodshown in FIG. 5, however, upon receiving an attempt to reestablish thecommunication session from the service provider 130, the switch 110prompts the service provider 130 for a passcode at a time 571. At a time572, the service provider enters and transmits the passcode to theswitch. The passcode may be automatically entered by service providersystems, or manually entered by a system provider operator (e.g., usingan IVR system as described with respect to FIG. 3). At a time 572 theswitch transmits the received passcode to the rating engine, where therating engine compares the entered passcode with the previously-storedpasscode. If the entered passcode matches the stored passcode, therating engine 120 grants permission to reestablish the communicationsession (e.g., to connect the call such as by rating the call as free)at a time 580. At a time 583, the service provider 130 reestablishes thedisconnected communication session with the device 105. If the enteredpasscode does not match the stored passcode, the method may allow forany number of reentry tries before issuance of a failure message anddisallowing the reestablishment of the communication session.

FIG. 6 is a partial flowchart of the method depicted in FIG. 1 forreestablishing a communication session with the disabled device 105after an emergency communication session has been terminated. At block605, the device user initiates an emergency communication request. Atblock 610, the network routes the communication request (e.g., call) tothe service provider 130 and establishes the emergency communicationsession. At block 615, the communication session is disconnected for anyone of the previously-articulated reasons. In response thereto, aconfigurable timer or other mechanism for measuring elapsed time isinitiated by the system. At block 620, the rating engine 120 receives arequest to reestablish the communication session. When a request toreestablish the communication session is received, at a decision block625 the rating engine checks the state of the timer or the mechanism formonitoring elapsed time. If a threshold period has lapsed (i.e., if theelapsed time is greater than a threshold time), at block 635 the ratingengine denies the request for the communication session. If a thresholdperiod has not lapsed (i.e., the elapsed time is less than a thresholdtime), at block 630 the rating engine allows the request for thecommunication session, such as by rating it as free of charge. Themethod passes control back to block 620 and where the rating enginewaits for another request to reestablish the communication session. Thethreshold period may be set by the system operator and may be minutes,tens of minutes, or other time suitable to enable communication sessionsto be reestablished. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatwhether the threshold period has elapsed may be determined by setting acountdown timer and detecting whether the timer has reached zero, bystarting a count-up timer and detecting whether the elapsed time hasexceeded the threshold period, by storing a first time when thecommunication session is either initiated or terminated and comparingthe first time with a second time when a request is received forreestablishing a communication session, or by any other means. Moreover,even though the measurement of elapsed time is depicted as starting inblock 615, the measurement may begin at any other point associated withthe communication session.

FIG. 7 is a partial flowchart of the methods depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5.At a block 705, a user of a device 105 initiates a request for anemergency communication session. At block 710, the system routes thecommunication request to the service provider 130 and issues a passcodeto the service provider 130. The passcode may be any unique code, suchas a string of alphanumeric characters. At block 715, the communicationsession (e.g., the call) is disconnected for any one of thepreviously-articulated reasons. At block 720, the system receives arequest to reestablish the communication session. At block 725, inresponse to the request to reestablish the communication session, theservice provider is prompted for the passcode. At block 730, the systemreceives the passcode and compares the entered passcode with the storedpasscode associated with the previous emergency communication sessioninitiated by the device 105. At decision block 735, the systemdetermines whether the stored passcode matches the entered passcode. Ifthe stored passcode matches the entered passcode, the system allows therequest to reestablish the communication session (e.g., call) at block740. The method passes control to block 720 and waits for anotherrequest for a communication session. If the stored passcode does notmatch the entered passcode, the system denies the request to reestablishthe communication session at block 745. The system may allow a number ofattempted re-connection attempts before issuing a failure message.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the system and methodsdisclosed herein may be implemented on any computing system or device.Suitable computing systems or devices include server computers,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network devices,minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environmentsthat include any of the foregoing, and the like. Such computing systemsor devices may include one or more processors that execute software toperform the functions described herein. Processors include programmablegeneral-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, programmablecontrollers, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), or the like, or a combination of suchdevices. Software may be stored in memory, such as random access memory(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, or the like, or acombination of such components. Software may also be stored in one ormore storage devices, such as magnetic or optical based disks, flashmemory devices, or any other type of non-volatile storage medium forstoring data. Software may include one or more program modules whichinclude routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. The functionality of the program modules may be combined ordistributed as desired in various embodiments.

It should be appreciated that the embodiments disclosed above are onlyexamples of the present invention. The described embodiments may be usedin various combinations with and without each other. Additionalimplementations will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the arthaving the benefit of this disclosure. For example, the presentedembodiments refer to rating a call as free to allow an incomingemergency call despite an insufficient amount of pre-paid minutes.However, in some embodiments the issue may not be a lack of minutes, butrather a suspended account, a locked device, or a deactivated accountbecause the device was reported as lost or stolen. In some embodiments,“rating the call as free” is sufficient to enable the communicationsession to be reestablished. In some embodiments, rather than “ratingthe call as free” the rating engine or other system component mayimplement a functional equivalent that allows the device to receive anincoming call despite the device otherwise being unable to receive thecommunication. For example, if the device (e.g., phone) is locked andthe device user does not know or cannot remember the unlock code, a callto the service provider (e.g., 911 call) is typically still allowed. Ina callback situation, instead of or in addition to “rating the call asfree,” the system may remotely and temporarily unlock the device so theuser may answer the incoming call.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments ofthe invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration,but that various modifications may be made without deviating from thespirit and scope of the invention. For example, while signaling orblocks are presented in a given order, alternative implementations mayperform routines having signaling or blocks in a different order, andsome signaling or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided,combined, and/or modified to provide alternative or subcombinations.Each of these signaling or blocks may be implemented in a variety ofdifferent ways. Also, while signaling or blocks are at times shown asbeing performed in series, the signaling or blocks may instead beperformed or implemented in parallel, or may be performed at differenttimes. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by theappended claims.

I/We claim:
 1. A computer-readable medium, excluding transitory signals,and carrying instructions, which when executed by at least one dataprocessor, perform a method for establishing a communication sessionbetween a disabled telecommunications device and a destination after acommunication session between the disabled telecommunications device anda service provider has ended, the method comprising: detecting anestablishment of a communication session between a disabledtelecommunications device and a service provider, the communicationsession being initiated by the disabled telecommunications device;receiving a request from a destination to establish a secondcommunication session between the destination and the disabledtelecommunications device, wherein the request to establish the secondcommunication session occurs after the communication session between theservice provider and the disabled telecommunications device has ended;determining whether an identifier corresponding to the destinationbelongs to a group of one or more authorized service providers; inresponse to determining that the identifier belongs to a group of one ormore authorized service providers, authorizing the establishment of thesecond communication session; and in response to determining that theidentifier does not belong to a group of one or more authorized serviceproviders, denying the establishment of the second communicationsession.
 2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprisingdetermining an elapsed time between the communication session and therequest to establish the second communication session, wherein theelapsed time is measured from the end of the emergency communicationsession, and wherein the end of the emergency communication session is aresult of at least one of: the disabled telecommunications deviceterminating the communication session, the service provider terminatingthe communication session, or network difficulties terminating thecommunication session.
 3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1,further comprising determining an elapsed time between the communicationsession and the request to establish the second communication session,and wherein the elapsed time is measured from the start of thecommunication session.
 4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1,further comprising determining an elapsed time between the communicationsession and the request to establish the second communication session,and wherein the elapsed time is measured from the end of the emergencycommunication session.
 5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1,wherein the communication session is a voice, video, Instant Messaging(IM), Short Message Service (SMS), or multimedia session.
 6. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the second communicationsession is a voice, video, Instant Messaging (IM), Short Message Service(SMS), or multimedia session.
 7. The computer-readable medium of claim1, further comprising determining an elapsed time between thecommunication session and the request to establish the secondcommunication session, and wherein the elapsed time is determined by atimer.
 8. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprisingdetermining an elapsed time between the communication session and therequest to establish the second communication session, and wherein theelapsed time is determined by comparing a time stamp associated with thecommunication session and a time of the request to establish a secondcommunication session.
 9. The computer-readable medium of claim 1,wherein authorizing the establishment of the second communicationsession includes enabling charging for communication resources consumedduring the second communication session.
 10. The computer-readablemedium of claim 1, wherein the communication session is an emergencycommunication session, including a 911 call and the service provider isa Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).
 11. The computer-readable mediumof claim 1, wherein the method involves an emergency responder and theservice provider being the same parties.
 12. A method for establishing acommunication session between a disabled telecommunications device and adestination after a communication session between the disabledtelecommunications device and a service provider has terminated, themethod comprising: detecting an establishment of a communication sessionbetween a disabled telecommunications device and a service provider,wherein the communication session was previously initiated by thedisabled telecommunications device; receiving a request from adestination to establish a second communication session between thedestination and the disabled telecommunications device, wherein therequest to establish the second communication session occurs after thecommunication session between the service provider and the disabledtelecommunications device has terminated; determining whether anidentifier corresponding to the destination belongs to a group of one ormore authorized service providers; in response to determining that theidentifier belongs to a group of one or more authorized serviceproviders, authorizing the establishment of the second communicationsession; and in response to determining that the identifier does notbelong to a group of one or more authorized service providers, denyingthe establishment of the second communication session.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising determining an elapsed time between thecommunication session and the request to establish the secondcommunication session, and wherein the elapsed time is measured from thestart of the communication session.
 14. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising determining an elapsed time between the communication sessionand the request to establish the second communication session, andwherein the elapsed time is measured from the end of the emergencycommunication session.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein thecommunication session is a voice, video, Instant Messaging (IM), ShortMessage Service (SMS), or multimedia session.
 16. The method of claim12, wherein the second communication session is a voice, video, InstantMessaging (IM), Short Message Service (SMS), or multimedia session. 17.The method of claim 12, further comprising determining an elapsed timebetween the communication session and the request to establish thesecond communication session, and wherein the elapsed time is determinedby a timer.
 18. The method of claim 12, further comprising determiningan elapsed time between the communication session and the request toestablish the second communication session, and wherein the elapsed timeis determined by comparing a time stamp associated with thecommunication session and a time of the request to establish a secondcommunication session.
 19. A system for establishing a communicationsession in a network between a disabled telecommunications device and adestination after a communication session between the disabledtelecommunications device and a service provider has terminated,comprising: at least one processor coupled to the network; at least onememory, coupled to the at least one processor, and storing instructionsto be performed by the at least one processor to: detect anestablishment of a communication session between a disabledtelecommunications device and a service provider, wherein thecommunication session was previously initiated by the disabledtelecommunications device; receive a request from a destination toestablish a second communication session between the destination and thedisabled telecommunications device, wherein the request to establish thesecond communication session occurs after the communication sessionbetween the service provider and the disabled telecommunications devicehas terminated; determine whether an identifier corresponding to thedestination belongs to a group of one or more authorized serviceproviders; in response to determining that the identifier belongs to agroup of one or more authorized service providers, authorize theestablishment of the second communication session; and in response todetermining that the identifier does not belong to a group of one ormore authorized service providers, deny the establishment of the secondcommunication session.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein thecommunication session is selected from the group consisting of a voicesession, a video session, an Instant Messaging (IM) session, a ShortMessage Service (SMS) session, and a multimedia session, and wherein thesecond communication session is selected from the group comprising isselected from the group consisting of a voice session, a video session,an Instant Messaging (IM) session, a Short Message Service (SMS)session, and a multimedia session.